Circum-Baikal Railway

Understand

The 89-km–long route from Slyudyanka-2 to port Baikal is a great opportunity to enjoy the changing views of the lake as the train rides along the shoreline from south to north and back. You will pass through 39 tunnels making several 20-min stops to take a stroll outside.

Get in/Go

By Circum-Baikal Express, Кругобайкальский экспресс which departs from Irkutsk. It comprises 1st, 2nd and business-class carriages which are rather relaxing. You can hear the music, listen to the guide or sit at the bar. The ticket usually is being bought at tour agencies as excursions. The train starts from Irkutsk on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 08:00 or from the port Baikal on Thursdays and Sundays. The trip takes about 12-13 hours including stops for a walk. The time of return to Irkutsk is 21:00-22:00. It is possible to travel independently using local transport at any time of the year, as train #6201 Matanya assures the connection between Slyudyanka 1 (Слюдянка 1) and Port Baikal (Байкал) through the Circumbaikal Railway. The train leaves Slyudyanka at around 13:30 local time four times a week, Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Updated timetables are available online from the Russian Railways website (local trains run in local time). As with any local train, it's not possible to buy tickets online, but they can be bought at the train station, or aboard for cca 70 руб (one-way, July 2014), another 60 руб you pay for a bigger backpack. Matanya is now a comfortable, hi-tech looking red train, but like other local trains, it has no food for sale aboard and no hot-water dispenser. Water from "drinking water dispenser" was muddy and didn't look drinkable at all. The stops are not long enough to alight and, outside of season, there are no food sellers on the platforms, so pack your lunch and don't rely on instant noodles. Official Russian train directions are irrelevant to north-south and are only two: to the west (на запад) and to the east (на восток). This is what you will always see when dealing with railway timetables. So in case of Circum-Baikal Railway to the west means northward to the port Baikal and to the east means southward to Slyudyanka.

Getting to Slyudyanka from Irkutsk is possible by either marshrutka or eletrichka and takes at least 2.5 hours. If consulting the Russian Railways website, eletrichkas are the trains whose ticket price is not shown (because it's not possible to buy them online). Tickets cost 83 руб aboard (one-way, October 2013

See

These are major stops as follow:

Slyudyanka — its station building is covered with white and pink marble. Staraya Angasolka — small village and viaduct. Mys Stolby Kirkirey Polovinny — the location of the shortest and the longest tunnels. Shumikha — you can get out and see valleys of two rivers and Italian wall. Port Baikal — on the cape Baranchik, it has an early 20th-century lighthouse.

Eat

Food stores are scarce on the railway, so take something with you or use the bar.